Mary Sjostrom - President

Mary and her husband Butch have resided in Quesnel for the past 38 years and have 3 children, 3 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.  Mary is a former Licensed Practical Nurse and owner of Mary's Gifts for 18 years prior to serving 15 years on Quesnel City Council including 9 years as City Councillor and 6 years as Mayor. While serving with Local Government, Mary was elected to the North Central Local Government Association and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities as Director and President and is a Life Member of both organizations.

Mary has always been a Community Volunteer and has served on the Chamber of Commerce, Pallative Care Association, Quesnel Rotary, Shiraoi Twinning Society, BC Winter Games, and Relay for Life. Mary is currently serving on the Board of Governors of College of New Caledonia as Vice Chair of Regions and as Passenger Transportation Board Member. Mary served as a Steering Committee Member for the Quesnel Community Foundation and was very excited to join the Foundation Board and serve as Board President. Mary feels that this is a great way to give back to the Community through this wonderful organization.

Bruce Broughton - Vice President

Bruce was born in Quesnel and is the fourth generation of his family to live in the area.  He has been co-owner of Willis Harper Hardware & Furniture for the past 17 years, and has served as president of the Downtown Business Association for 12 years. 

Bruce was the vice-chair of the Quesnel Economic Development Corporation for two years, and treasurer of the Quesnel Goldpanners hockey team for 15 years.

Married with two sons and has three grandchildren, Bruce is proud of our community and, in addition to hockey, enjoys hiking local areas. Bruce enjoys working with the other directors on the Foundation Board

Laurie Rice - Treasurer

Laurie Rice, a Chartered Professional Accountant, has worked in the Agriculture, Oil and Gas, and the Heavy Equipment Sectors in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon before moving to Quesnel in 1990.  Laurie and her husband Ed Coleman have 5 adult children that all benefited from growing up in our wonderful community of Quesnel.

She worked for 25 years with School District 28, starting out as an Accounts Payable Clerk and spent the last 10 years as Manager of Finance/Controller, retiring in 2015.

Since retiring from the School District, she has served as Wildfire Business Ambassador and Wildfire Business Transition Program Coordinator with Community Futures North Cariboo.

Her volunteer work includes the Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life and Daffodil Campaign Committees, President of the Quesnel Ladies Curling Club, and Emergency Support Services.  Laurie is very excited to have the opportunity to be involved with the Foundation and looks forward to working with the Quesnel Community Foundation team.

Gayle Campbell - Secretary

Gayle Campbell is a proud life-long resident of Quesnel.  Gayle is married to Ron and they have raised two sons Josh and Travis and now enjoy spending time with their two grandchildren.

She has been employed with the College of New Caledonia for 20 years and currently works in the capacity of Project Planner.  With a strong belief in life-long education Gayle recently completed a Diploma in Business Management and has a designation as Certified Program Planner.

Gayle has spent years volunteering and has been involved with many community organizations in Quesnel.  Quesnel Minor Hockey, Dragon Lake Golf Ladies and Junior Clubs, Quesnel Millionaires Junior Hockey, Relay for Life and Quesnel Ladies Curling Club. Gayle and Ron enjoy spending time with family and friends, golfing, curling and camping.

Brian Black - Director

Brian is a graduate of UBC, a Professional Engineer and a First Class Power Engineer. He moved to Quesnel in 1974 to take a job at Cariboo Pulp later transfering to Quesnel River Pulp. He had several different positions and was mill manager at QRP for several years before retiring

Brian has two grown sons and enjoys outdoor activities and self powered sports.  His particular passion is cross country skiing.  He helped found the Cariboo Ski Touring Club back in 1975 and has had a key role in the development of the Hallis Lake public recreation facility.  He is currently the president of the CSTC. He was also a board member and past chairman of the Quesnel and Community Economic Development Corporation.

Brian is happy to be involved with this very worthwhile organization and looks forward to giving his time, energy and experience to the Foundation.

Adrian Monych- Director

Adrian is a retired teacher and Principal. He currently does contract work for the Quesnel school district and works for UNBC as a practicum supervisor of teacher candidates.

With his wife Judy, Adrian moved to Quesnel in 1971 and began his career teaching Social Studies at Cariboo Junior High School. He also taught at Quesnel Junior Secondary School and Correlieu Secondary School. While at Correlieu he coached volleyball and basketball. In the early 1990’s he moved to Maple Drive Junior Secondary as the Vice Principal. After one year at Maple Drive, he went to Kersley Elementary as Principal.  After two years he became the Principal of Maple Drive Junior Secondary and remained there until June of 2000. In July of 2000, Adrian became the Principal of Correlieu Secondary School and continued in that position until he retired in June of 2006.

Adrian and Judy enjoy golf, gardening, roaming in their fifth wheel and spending time with their families. They pulled the fifth wheel across Canada all the way to Newfoundland in the first summer of retirement and they always enjoy spending time with their grandchildren in Calgary.

Judy and Adrian intended to live in Quesnel for a few years and move back to the lower mainland. Fortunately this was not to be. They fell in love with Quesnel and raised their two children, Jennifer and Michael, here. “We have found the people in Quesnel to be incredibly supportive. Our community supports a wide variety of causes and readily comes to the aid of people”. 

Doug Service - Director

Doug was raised in Kamloops and graduated from Kam High in 1965.  While in high school Doug played basketball and started his career as a referee.

While at UBC, Doug met and married Sally; after graduation they moved to Quesnel – both he and Sally accepted teaching positions here, expecting to stay perhaps a year or two.  Their two children, Heather and David, were born in Quesnel, they built their first home at Dragon Lake in 1975 where they live to this day.

As an educator, Doug taught PE, Math, and Social Studies and was a Counsellor at Maple Drive, and Correlieu.  From 1988 – 1996, Doug held administrative positions at Maple Drive, Parkland and Red Bluff Elementary Schools.  Until retirement, Doug continued with his commitment to basketball in 'the North' - coaching both boys and girls teams from Grade 8 through Grade 12, and refereeing whenever and wherever he was needed.  He was instrumental in the establishment of the Quesnel Basketball Officials' Association, and was president from 1985-90.  He received recognition as the Official of the Year from both the Canadian Association of Basketball Officials' and Basketball BC.  In recognition of his involvement in basketball, he was named to the Quesnel Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.  For the past 2 years, he coached his grandson's team at Carson Elementary!

Doug's community involvement has extended beyond School District 28.  He was a member of the Dragon Lake Improvement District and has served as a member of the CRD Area A Advisory Committee for 35 years.  Since retiring in 2005, he has been an active member of the Quesnel Seniors' Society, taking on the President's job in 2015.  Doug previously served one-3 year term as a member of the Quesnel Community Foundation and looks forward to working with this very worthy organization again.

Both he and Sally keep busy with volunteering, travelling, and enjoying their involvement with two very active, very busy grandchildren.

Jim Gorsline - Director

Jim is a graduate of the University of Toronto and is a registered professional forester. He worked throughout BC in the forest industry since 1974 until his retirement. He came to Quesnel in 1997 as Vice President Forest Products of BC for Weldwood of Canada and finished his career with West Fraser in 2006

Deb Burton - Director

Deb Burton is a relatively newcomer to Quesnel, having moved to the community from Vancouver Island in 2012.  Deb’s husband Andrew and two children have lived in Smithers, Bella Coola, Kamloops, Merritt and Port Alberni.  Deb is an active advocate for Quesnel, and has organized many community events including the West Village Night Market, Relay for Life, and the Ladies Curling Bonspiel.  In her spare time Deb enjoys curling, painting water colours and gardening.  Deb feels honored to be a part of the Quesnel Community Foundation team and looks forward to giving back to the community that her family has made home.